The present invention relates to a power converting apparatus and burglarproof method therefor and, more particularly, to a power converting apparatus for a power generation apparatus installed outdoors and a burglarproof method therefor.
As the practical use of home solar power generation systems is making quick progress, many solar power generation systems are currently in operation. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of such a solar power generation system.
DC power output from a solar battery 1 is input, through a blocking diode 4, to a system interconnection (to be referred to as xe2x80x9cinterconnectionxe2x80x9d hereinafter) power converting apparatus (to be referred to as an xe2x80x9cinverterxe2x80x9d hereinafter) 2 for supplying AC power to a commercial electric power system (to be referred to as a xe2x80x9csystemxe2x80x9d hereinafter). The inverter 2 converts DC power to AC power and supplies it to a system 3 through a breaker S.
The inverter 2 has a primary-side capacitor 21 such as an electrolyte capacitor, a switching circuit 22, interconnection reactors 23, and a control section 24. The control section 24 has a function of controlling the entire inverter 2. The control section 24 generates a gate pulse signal to be supplied to the switching circuit 22 on the basis of signals obtained from a DC voltage detector 25, DC current detector 26, AC voltage detector 27, and AC current detector 28, thereby realizing DC/AC converting operation. In many cases, the control section 24 has a protective function of detecting an abnormality in system voltage on the basis of the detection signals and stopping the power converting operation of the inverter 2.
As the application range of solar power generation systems widens, a number of relatively compact and lightweight inverters must be installed outdoors. However, an inverter has no burglarproof means at all and therefore may be stolen. A solar power generation plant using a lot of inverters is probably operated assuming that the investment should be recovered by operating a solar power generation apparatus for a long time. If such a solar power generation plant suffers a burglary, not only the apparatus (asset) but also generated power is lost, and the investment recovery period considerably prolongs.
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems individually or altogether, and has as its object to prevent any burglary of a power converting apparatus.
In order to achieve the above object, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, a power converting apparatus having a burglarproof function, comprising: a switch, arranged to switch an alarm state; a sensor, arranged to detect a connection state of a power supply and/or a load; and an alarm, arranged to give an alarm when the power supply and/or the load is disconnected in the alarm state is disclosed.
In addition, a burglarproof method for a power converting apparatus, comprising the steps of: setting an alarm state; detecting a connection state of a power supply and/or a load; and giving an alarm when the power supply and/or the load is disconnected in the alarm state is disclosed.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.